Pre-kids, I loved to hunt at Nordstrom Rack and high-end resale shops. Now, I prefer to go to Nordstrom once or twice a year and arrange with a stylist to have some work and casual clothes ready for me to try on.

A few weeks ago I dropped my dog off at the groomers in a weird part of Fairfax, and, given traffic, if I drove home I was basically going to have to turn right around and come back to get her. So I decided to kill time.

There was a Burlington (branded "Burlington" now, but used to be "Burlington Coat Factory") right around the corner. I decided to play a game with it to kill time -- because I had a couple of hours I would go through the whole store, looking carefully at everything, to see if there could possibly be anything I might want. I did it -- looked at basically everything. Even grabbed a cart just in case. Do you know what I bought? A notebook -- so that I could kill more time in the cafe around the corner journaling. The entire -- very, very large -- store was full of nothing but trash.

Burlington is, of course, a few notches below Nordstrom Rack--the store named by OP. I'd rank NR over TJ Maxx and Marshals, and TJ Maxx and Marshals over Burlington. But still -- I found nothing to buy.

The last time I was at Nordstrom rack I got some pink joggers that I loved. But then I washed them once and they were like tissue paper. You could see straight through them -- totally unwearable, at least in public. It was the NR at Tysons. I'd been to the one on L St a few months before that and found nothing. The last time I was at TJ Maxx was around the same time, the one on Leesburg Pike, and there was nothing good at all. Nothing I would want, anyway.

FWIW, I enjoy fashion and clothes, but I'm no real stylist or anything. So I'm not being snobby when I say these places were full of trash. They were full of trash.

Nordstrom rack in Tysons is nicer than Nordstrom in Tysons L O L.

These stores are a waste of time.

I like Talbots outlook (lol so clearly I don't belong in the fashion forum) but you can get decent work clothes for very very cheap

If you have certain quality brands you like and can find them at Nordstrom Rack or TJ Maxx, it’s worth periodically popping in.

The store is jammed full of items and I don’t care for “the hunt.” I prefer to shop online. I have found some nice dresses that I have worn to a wedding, bridal shower, etc.

Why do you need to understand someone else’s preferences or decisions? If there is no “allure” for you, why are you not simply moving on with your day?

I have had good luck with Theory, Vince, and other high end brands. You have to know what is well priced and what is polyester crap

Feels like shopping at a dollar store.

If you don’t understand why people shop at discount stores then you aren’t that thrifty.

Yeah, there's some junk. But a lot of these Racks carry designer stuff that didn't sell at the local Nordstrom. I mean, I saw Giorgio Armani at the Rack in SF. Very expensive for being RTW.

The allure is that Nordstrom Rack has better (quality, style) stuff than Old Navy and Target, and I can only get to certain stores and that's one of them. It's very rare I can find anything at Macy's. Bloomingdales is out of my price range, and I'm sized out of places like Reformation and Madewell and/or don't want to pay shipping just to return stuff that doesn't fit.

If you have a good eye, you may occasionally find something perfect for you.

I consider myself pretty thrifty but it’s all such junk. Feels gross to even shop in these stores. And such a waste of time. I feel happier at and have more successful shopping experiences at regular flagship stores.